Planking, red or white on OT?

[Tom Widney]

I am currently in the process of restoring an 1961 OT Guide built with Western Red Cedar planking. Over the last 49 years the canoes color has changed significantly, both the white cedar ribs and the red cedar planking have aquired a natural blonde color that goes towards a rich golden yelowish when varnished.

I was able to get pretty darn close to a color match on the white cedar ribs using transtint dyes, but the new Western Red Cedar is much darker in value and much more red in hue than the aged western red that I am trying to match.

Seeing since even with dyes I can't get a yellowish/gold hue from my reddish stock of western red, that the answer is to simply use Eastern White Cedar for the repairs and to dye it with the trans tint as I did the ribs.

What have others done on Old Town restores, use the red or the white? Or am I simply missing something that should be obvious? Any and all comments ideals or solutions which have come close, will be much appriciated.
Tom

 

[dtdcanoes]

red cedar match

You may want to consider bleaching the inside of the planking and continuing from there. You will then have red cedar grain and the " proper " wood to go for a match. I have done this and you can make an indistinguishable repair, I bet. I have seen white cedar used to repair a red cedar boat and wow what a nightmare to match it up.....I could not do it, period. Have fun...the saving grace is you can do it as many times essentially, until you are satisfied.

You could do a sample as well and learn a lot very fast. Remember to match to original, oiled and varnished to get the ending correct. Dave

 

[Dan Lindberg]

Tom,

I use red cedar on OT's, and keep a selection of different colors on hand for matching.

But more interestingly, do you have a source of Northern white down there?
It's hard enough to find (up here) that I would only use it for planking if it was used originally.

Dan

 

[Tom Widney]

dtdcanoes,
The bleaching seems like a good idea! Never would I have thought about the grain differences being an issue. This is my first restore and the number of details that don't quite get to the pages of the "how to" books is amazing.

Dan,
I buy my planking already processed and ready to go from the WCHA suppliers list. I'm in a wheelchair and the regulation size power tools are extremely awkward to operate for me, so in safety’s sake I don't deal with the big stuff. I do have a bench top table saw and band saw built by Micromart left from my ship model building days, which allows me to work the ribs and planking if I need to. My little saws are remarkably accurate and can handle stock up to an inch thick. I use a block and tackle to turn the canoe over or to whichever angle it needs to be and my saw horses are short. Its amazingly good therapy, keeps me twisting turning and reaching. I find that most of the work I can do by myself. The canoe seems about the right size to work on from the chair and the wood is soft enough for me to work with my hands which aren’t the world’s best anyhow. One of my best friends is a carpenter who promised to do the big cuts, such as the gunnels, decks or keels. His son, for a small wage, helps with the rib bending clinching iron and such.
I converted my old dark junky garage into a boat shop this last spring, it was completed shortly before the Assembly this summer.
The added porch provides space for the steam box and handcycle cover.

 

[Tom Widney]

dtdcanoes

Do you recall what type of bleach you used for the new planking?
Thanks
Tom























Tom

 

[dtdcanoes]

Hi, TOM
I recall using the two part, Snappy Teak-NU. It is easy to use and can be had at most Marine supply stores. You could find the right grain to match and use the back side for trials...ie. perhaps you may have to bleach twice, or longer etc.Dry totally, then go forward....maybe you will get away with just oiling ( raw or boiled ) and varnish. Make sure you sand the bleached area before the trials as the surface takes the stain differently than when it is rougher. Have fun, this is not a Strad, you know. Dave